Working in the Genomics and Microbiology Lab has been the perfect environment to imagine how science can look in the classroom. Everyone in the lab has been so supportive and patient in listening to my ideas, thoughts and questions. It is so exciting to go the museum and work amongst people who genuinely want us to be successful and support all of our curiosities.

After working with Julia for a week my ultimate goal is to figure out how to implement her research in my classroom as effectively as possible. My second goal is to figure out how to implement her research on a broader scale. What are we researching and what is the most effective way to report findings back to the lab?

The goal of Julia’s research is to have participants collect various weeds/plants and ultimately determine what type of bacteria and fungi the plant is recruiting. In order for this to happen, my students would have to collect plants, separate the phylosphere, rhizosphere, endophytes, and bulk soil and then after diluting, plate the phylosphere, rhizosphere, and endophytes, and bulk soil for each plant. Each of the four different parts of the plant would be plated on three different types of plates. The Nutrient Agar would be used to grow bacteria, the Rose Bengal Agar would be used to grow fungi, and the King’s B Agar would be used to grow bacteria, specifically  Pseudomonas fluorescens. Pseudomonas fluorescens is a specific type of bacteria that will glow under UV light. All growth will be done at room temperature. In this, we are specifically looking for this type of bacteria. (An example is pictured below.)

This means that my students will be doing real science that is not done just for the sake of completing a lab, but rather for greater contributions to citizen science. This is going to be so empowering for them as students as well as for me as their teacher. Citizen science has opened my eyes to the opportunities that are available for my students, my school and ultimately my region.